Sami Chohfi

Sami Chohfi (born on June 8, 1982) is an American-Brazilian musician and composer, a multi-award-winning solo artist who writes and records all music for the rock band Blue Helix. Chohfi is based in Seattle and is known for his stage presence and live audiences worldwide. His debut solo album, Extraordinary World,[7] tells personal stories written across six countries. His songs and music videos are currently featured on media outlets, including MTV, Music Box, and Rolling Stone. He has toured Brazil, Japan, India, Armenia, Cambodia, Singapore, and the Philippines.[6][14][15]

Early Life and Education

Chohfi graduated from Stranahan High School in 2000. He started interested in music after getting inspired by Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit music video, MTV, and the '90s Seattle movement. He began self-learning guitar in 1995. His first guitar was a candy apple red Fender Jazz Master gifted by his mother, Pamela Ruffin, on his birthday. Chohfi suffered from bullying his entire life, both in school and at home, from his alcoholic father. Music was his salvation, and in 2000, he moved to Seattle to pursue his musical dreams.[8][14]

Chohfi has taken vocal lessons with Susan Carr, a renowned vocal coach in Seattle.[13]

Career

Chohfi has been a singer/songwriter/guitarist for the Seattle rock band Blue Helix[6] since 2008. He started as a solo artist in 2019 by releasing his single It's Just Me.[14] Chohfi has toured India, the Philippines, Singapore,[15] Japan, Armenia, and Cambodia and played in US cities, including Las Vegas, Denver, Portland, Post Falls, and Seattle.[13]

Chohfi has toured Brazil five times, most recently in 2023. In 2022, he played 12 shows in nine cities across four states.[8][14]

Chohfi currently has over 17,500 spins on major FM radio all across Brazil with his songs Little One, The Awakening,[6] Tidal Wave, Dirty Your Soul,[4] Sing You to Me, Anti-Social Butterfly,[6] Anodyne, Complicated, and his cover of A-ha's classic Take on Me.[1][5] His music videos are featured on Rolling Stone, MTV, Indie Gaga (India), Music Box Brazil, Canal Bis (Brazil), LATV, Music Choice, and other notable music outlets.[9][14]

Chohfi's debut album, Extraordinary World, tells personal stories written across six countries. In his song, he talks about the lives and experiences of people he met during his travels, whether in Cambodia, France, Portugal, Kenya, or Brazil.

Chohfi's music videos, This Majesty[4] and Dirty Your Soul,[4] filmed in India, were featured on Rolling Stone.[2] The song Little One was written while watching an episode of one of his favorite TV shows, AMC's The Walking Dead.[10] 

After a successful 9-city tour in Brazil in 2022, where he had the chance to personally meet and connect with so many new fans, Chohfi is set to be on his 5th tour in the country in September of 2023.[11]

Discography

• Complicated (2023)
• Sing You to Me (Dream Version) 2023[13]
• Anodyne (2023)
• Dance Monkey 2023
• Anti-Social Butterfly (2023)[6][13]
• Sing You to Me (2022)[7][13]
• Take on Me (2022)[7]
• The Awakening (2022)[6][13]
• Little One (2021)[13]
• Serenade the Darkness (2021)[10]
• Dirty Your Soul (2020)[4]
• This Majesty (2020)[10]
• Tidal Wave (2020)[10]
• Extraordinary World (LP 2020)[7]
• It's Just Me (2019)[10]

Albums with Blue Helix

• Tale of Two Halves (2014)[10]
• Coda (2011)[10]
• Light The Wick (2008)[10]

Awards 

Band Awards

• Chohfi's band, Blue Helix, won the Puget Sound Battle of the Bands in 2015.[12]
• Chohfi's band, Blue Helix, won the 2017 National Brazilian Competition of Bands by car rental company Movida and FM Rock Station, a radio Rock 89. [8]
• Chohfi's band, Blue Helix, was also featured in the Huffington Post, Tenho Mais Discos Que Amigos, and many other notable blogs and magazines. Their song Anti-Social Butterfly was one of Sao Paulo, Brazil's 89 A Radio Rock FM's most requested songs, in December 2017 before the band toured Brazil on eight dates in March 2018. [8]

Solo Awards

• Chohfi won multiple awards from ISSA, including 2021 Male Vocalist of the Year, 2022 Most Streamed Music Video (Serenade the Darkness), 2020 World Songwriting Awards for Best Music Video (Dirty Your Soul), 2021 Best Song Collaboration, and a 2020 Global Music Award.[3][14]
• Music Mafia Radio 2022 Male Vocalist of the Year.[8][14]
• Top 10 single Dirty Your Soul on Antena1 FM in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 2022.[13]

TV Appearances

• On October 31st, 2021, Chohfi’s song Tidal Wave was featured on S5 E4 of the TV show Seal Team.[13]
• On October 10, 2019, Chohfi's rock band Blue Helix had their song Despair on S2 E1 of Temptation Island.
• On April 16, Chohfi was a contestant on the Brazilian National Record TV show Canta Comigo Season 5, Ep 2[8]

Personal Life

Chohfi is the son of American national Pamela Ruffin (mother), Brazilian national Nagib Chohfi Neto (father), and brother to Tiffany Angela Chohfi (sister). He grew up in many cities across the US, including Sacramento, Los Angeles, Reno, Wichita, and Ft. Lauderdale. Sami spent his childhood summer vacations visiting his grandmother and cousins in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he learned to speak Portuguese.[12]